A new University of Washington survey finds that among whites, southerners are 12 percent more likely to support the tea party than whites in other parts of the United States, and that conservatives are 28 percent more likely than liberals to support the group. “The tea party is not just about politics and size of government. The data suggests it may also be about race,”says Christopher Parker, a UW assistant professor of political science who directed the survey. The...

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When President Gerald Ford selected John Paul Stevens to serve on the Supreme Court more than 30 years ago, he “deliberately sought a non-partisan nominee with appeal across party lines,” notes Christopher Eisgruber, a former law clerk who worked for Stevens. Now that Stevens on Friday announced his retirement as he nears age 90, he could provide a model for President Obama’s next nominee to the high court, although even Eisgruber admits that may be a tall order. “Barack...

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The new Republican senator from Massachusetts never hid his opposition to the Democrats’ healthcare reform bill, but Scott Brown is feeling pressure from back home to get onboard Senate’s stalled climate bill. More than 50 clean energy business leaders from companies throughout Massachusetts signed a letter Wednesday urging Brown to work across state and party lines to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation. Brown’s Bay State colleague, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) has taken the lead in recent months in...

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A former Labor Department chief of staff during the Bush administration entered a guilty plea today to a corruption charge related to the scandals of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Horace Cooper, 44, of Lorton, Va., pleaded guilty to a count charging him with making and using a false certificate or writing. Specifically, the former chief of staff for the Department of Labor (DOL) Employment Standards Administration pleaded guilty to falsely certifying his Fiscal Year 2003 Executive Branch Personnel Public...

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Lawmakers from West Virginia and beyond are vowing to get to the bottom of Monday’s coal mine explosion that has left 25 dead. But just weeks ago, Congress was told how overzealous appeals of mine safety cases by mine operators threaten significant safety improvements that have been made in recent years. The governor of West Virginia described as “horrific” the blast within the coal mine in tiny Montcoal, W.Va., which is owned by Massey Energy and reportedly has been...

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Karl Rove wants you to complete your Census form. His friends on the Right may see the nation’s decennial headcount as some nefarious leftist plot, but not the former White House adviser once known as “Bush’s brain.” Rove — a top adviser and deputy chief of staff for most of George W. Bush’s presidency who is believed to have masterminded one of the most political White House operations in history — wants you to take him into your homes...

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Even as gay activists continue to press for marriage rights across the country, some have turned to fight discrimination on another front — that of equality for Social Security benefits. The activists are promoting a video in a YouTube contest to make the case that gay Americans pay equally into the Social Security system, so should reap its benefits equally. The online video, which focuses on a lesbian alien who is denied Social Security benefits after the death of...

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So, as we listen to the bigotry -- against undocumented workers that WASP businesses hire, against American and Canadian Muslims, against Arab-American immigrants --don't you doubt that the second Klan would have been right there with the teabaggers and the reichties.

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